FRAME THE LESSON
CLASS: 2nd Social Studies
DATE: 11/9-11/13
Our Country’s Symbols
Student Expectations Bundled in Lesson
Noun=Underline
Verb=Italicize
Resources/Materials:
We Explore People
and Places (p. 44-47)
13A: identify characteristics of good citizenship, including truthfulness, justice, equality, respect for oneself and others,
responsibility in daily life , participation in government by educating oneself about the issues, respectfully holding public
officials to their word, and voting
14A: recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States Flag and the Pledge to the Texas Flag
14B: identify selected patriotic songs, including “The Star Spangled Banner” and “America the Beautiful”
14C: identify selected symbols such as state and national birds and flowers and patriotic symbols such as the U.S. and Texas
flags and Uncle Sam
14D: identify how selected customs, symbols, and celebrations reflect an American love of individualism, inventiveness, and
freedom
18E: interpret oral, visual, and print material by identifying the main idea, predicting, and comparing and contrasting
20A: Use a problem-solving process to identify a problem, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages,
and disadvantages, choose and implement a solution, and evaluate the effectiveness of the solution.
Objective/Key Understanding:
 Identify patriotic songs and national symbols that reflect
an American love of freedom, individualism, and
inventiveness.
 Recite, and understand the significance of, the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Introduce Vocabulary Activity
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Symbol
Anthem
Motto
independence
Informal Assessment Questions 1-6 Got It? p. (p. 44-47)
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Underline why the flag shows creativity? Say the Pledge.
Identify and underline the names of three of our country’s patriotic songs.
Underline a symbol that shows individualism.
List two symbols of our country.
What do our country’s symbols tell us about what is important to Americans?
Which American symbols show our love of freedom?
Small Group Purposeful Talk Question Stems (ESL) (p. 45)
Write or display the lyrics to the first verse of the “Star Spangled Banner.”
Explain that the title of the song is a way to describe the United States’
flag since it has many stars on it, and it is a banner as well as a flag. Tell
children that the song was written many years ago when America was
fighting for its freedom. Read the lyrics aloud and ask children if they hear
another description for the flag (broad stripes and bright stars). Then have
children retell what the lyrics say in their own words.
Beginning
 Model retelling the story in the first verse in modern English: when
the sun came up, we saw that our flag was still flying. Our flag had
flown all night through the bursting of rockets and bombs. It still
flies over this land where free and brave people live.
Intermediate
 Read aloud your retelling of the first verse. Ask children to retell
selected sentences in their own words. Then have them retell the
whole story.
Advanced
 Read aloud the first verse of the song followed by your retelling.
Ask children to write a brief summary of what they learn.
Advanced High:
 Read aloud the first verse of the song while children read along
with you. Then have them work with a partner to write sentences
that summarize what they heard.
Small Group Purposeful Talk Question Stems (Differentiated
Instruction) (p. 46)
Use the following ideas to differentiate instruction for children when
discussing symbols.
Extra Support
 Encourage children to be “tour guides.” Have each child choose
one of the symbols referred to in this lesson. Have him or her give
a tour “speech” by reading from the text as a group acts as the
tourists. Encourage tourists to thank the tour guides for their
speech.
On-Level
 Have children make a list of symbols in their own community,
such as the school mascot.
Challenge/Gifted
 Have children choose an American symbol they would like to
find out more about. They can use a library of computer resources
and give an oral report to the class.
Engage
Explore
Explain
Elaborate
Evaluate
Introduce the Key Idea & Vocabulary (p. 44)
 Read to the class the Key Idea: “I will know our country’s symbols.” Tell students in this lesson they will be learning about this quote and what it means to
American History.
 Go online to access the Lesson Introduction and discuss the Big Question and lesson objective (p. 34).
Remind students they will know our country’s symbols. Introduce topics students will learn about in this lesson
 Our Country’s Flag (p. 44)
 Our Country’s Songs (p. 45)
 More American Symbols (p. 46-47)
Remind students they will know our country’s symbols.
Our Country’s Flag (p. 44)
 Look at the picture of our country’s flag on the right. There are 50 stars and 13 strips on our country’s flag. Each star stands for one of our 50 states. The
stripes stand for the first 13 states.
Our Country’s Songs (p. 45)
 Our country has a national anthem, or song. This song is called “The Star Spangled Banner.” It is about our flag.
More American Symbols (p. 46-47)
 The bald eagle, which lives only in North America, is another symbol of our country. There is a picture of the bald eagle on the great Seal of the United States.
This seal also shows our country’s motto.
Our Country’s Flag (p. 44)
 Why is it important for the word indivisible to be in our pledge?
 What do the stars and stripes on the flag represent?
Our Country’s Songs (p. 45)
 How do the flag and our country’s song represent the United States?
 Which of the songs named have you sung or heard? What words or word do you remember? What do you think these words mean?
More American Symbols (p. 46-47)
 What are some symbols in the Great Seal of the United States?
 Why do you think a rose was chosen as the national flower?
 Why are symbols for the United States important to people who live here?
Students will demonstrate mastery by completing the Got It Questions:
(See these questions listed above in the Informal Assessment portion of frame).